How long should an engine last?

[surfstar]

My Mazda MX6 went 340k+ on the original clutch - no problem whatsoever for the engine. Ditto my Mom's Nissan NX - original clutch and timing chain, went 330-350k (can't remember).
Sister's 4runner - original engine and trans with over 330k (trans NEVER touched since she bought it ~120k) and counting.

300k from anything newer than 1990 isn't that big a deal to me.

 

[Kool1]

Early small block Chevys suffered from leaking two piece rear main seals. They also came with stamped steel parts (oil pan, timing cover, and some with stamped steel valve covers). Anytime you adjusted valves with stamped steel valve covers the covers would distort and leak. Early small block Chevys came with a nylon cam timing gear which disintegrated in 100,000 miles and sometimes clogged oil passages or filled up the oil pump pickup.

 

[jimbrewer]

Someone said on a similar thread here a few months ago, 6,000 hours. That works out to about 180K mostly city/suurban driving, or about 360K all highway driving. Sounds about right.

 

[DR Racing]

Originally Posted By: yvon_la
Should?ask your self this:why did the trucking industry adopt inline 6.i mean we had v6 v8 supercherged turbocharged etc .we had it .name it we had it .in the end appear an inline 6 that looked meh by comparision.yet today almost 30 years later trucking still use i6.why?because no mather what engine maker say ,it is the best geometry there is.in theory rotary wankel engine should be better in term of durability but those never were oil friendly .even in gas ask any i6 owner yes gas.he or she probably expected it to die so often that he or she sold it way before it died.v engine designed cannot be balanced properly .i6 will always be one step ahead without even trying.thats why you car maker are getting rid of them .it isnt because they want this or that .its because i6 are too good.imagine a car maker creating a i6 1 liter in size.it would last very long .now try the same with a i3,4,v6,v4,v8.so you can expect about 75000 mile after that your on your own


Diesel rigs last that long because of the way there used, built and the fact that they are diesels. L6 gas car engines are not as popular because of packaging and their length. Dan

 

[Merkava_4]

I expect 400,000 out of an engine + surgically clean inside.

 

[mattwithcats]

I went 370,000 on a 4 cylinder Pontiac Phoenix (X car).

Car broke in half behind drivers seat, due to rust. Drove it, frame scraping ground, to the junkyard....

Used bulk oil and filters all it's life...

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Mhm, you think I'm in trouble then?

Well, you're already past on two vehicle, and are in the danger zone on two others.

For me, it always depends. The old F-150 is just that - old. But, it's easy to work on and parts are cheap. One can undertake a fairly major repair (or batch of them) for a sensible price. Other vehicles are different, of course.

200,000 miles on a taxi was barely halfway through service.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Too many variable to answer the question, but next time you're in a Crown Vic Cab have a look at the odometer

I was looking up the San Francisco taxi regulations (kind of random I know) and I saw their requirements for vehicles put into taxi service there. A newly registered vehicle can't have more than 70K miles, and vehicles must be retired after 300K miles. They're kind of running out of Crown Vics, although I see a lot of Toyota Prius and Ford Escapes used now. I think many of the drivers would probably love to keep the Crown Vics, but they're getting up in age.

I'm not sure if that Mobil 1 commercial showing Crown Vic Police Interceptors being converted to taxis would fly with such rules. How much would police typically put on a cab before they sell it?

 

[SuzukiGoat]

If I could get my hands on a NEW 05 scion xb... I guarantee I could get 500k out of it.

[censored] 230k floorshifting every gear to 6300 rpm is respectable.

My next one will be a 3.5l lexus. Bet it hits 400k.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I'm not sure if that Mobil 1 commercial showing Crown Vic Police Interceptors being converted to taxis would fly with such rules. How much would police typically put on a cab before they sell it?

Regulations vary all over the place. Here, as long as the safety inspection is good, one is good to go. However, individual companies often have rules about age, at least when being put in service. One could have an old car on as a taxi, as long as it was put on relatively new, and kept in continuous service. If ever pulled off the fleet, it couldn't go back, at least with some companies.

Up here, at least, the police vehicles that were bought by taxi operators typically had over 100,000 miles. And people would run them until they were simply too expensive to keep in good condition. And you're right; the Crown Vics are beginning to disappear, as are the Town Cars. The old style Caprices have faded into history, unfortunately.

 

[95busa]

If its a Ford modular V8, 300-500K all day long. In all seriousness, if you halfway act like you do maintenance, 200K is easy. I think the jury is still out on the direct injection engines. They seem to have some unique issues. That being said, I have driven some police spec impalas with 80K or so on the 3.6 VVT DI V6, and they still seemed fine with some very suspect maintenance.

 

[OneEyeJack]

How long should an engine last? My 84 Civic wagon went 420K before a rebuild. I'm the original owner. The only thing wrong was the oil control rings. The compression was dead even and in new car specs. The car smoked and would not pass Calif smog. I got a complete factory rebuild kit and did it all. It was a crying shame. The mains and rod bearings and journals looked perfect and miked to new factory specs. This car has always been garaged and lives in S. Cal. It has never seen snow or cold weather of any kind and is carefully maintained and driven. It has never given me any problems or failed to get me where I'm going. I plan to drive it to my funeral. One potential problem was averted. I though the complicated carb and all those vacuum lines would be a problem. Replacement carbs were expensive and it looked like getting through all that would be a lot of work. I discovered Stan at San Diego Carburetor. I gave him the car after the rebuild and after he did his work the car starts and runs like brand new. I was really impressed with his work and can't say enough about how happy I am that I met him. He rebuild my original carb with no drama and it was cheaper than the price of the NOS carbs available. I was unwilling to take a chance on a so called "rebuilt" carb.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I have gotten over half a million miles out of an LS type V8 in a Savana 3500 service van. But more typically a 200-300k mile life seems more normal to me in an all American car family.

Maybe my daughter's old Mazda/Ranger will beat them all...

 

[NHGUY]

It was a Chevy smallblock,thats why it didn't last.Some engines are problematic (Cheaply made) and certain years have issues.1976-1980 or so were not good years for the GM bunch.I know one kid with a 1987 350 that had to rebuild the engine nearly every time he took it out on the road,even had to tear into his 3.1 v6 numerous times.He's now driving an older Honda.....lol

 

[Trav]

Technically there is no reason the engine cant last as long as you want it to given there are no design flaws.
Good oil changed regularly and don't crucify it (don't baby it either) every time you drive it and it can go almost forever or outlast the rest of the car at least.

The 79 vette was the worst of the worst it was an underpowered pig, not even 200 HP and rattle like a wind up pair of false teeth.
To own one of these you either have to a few fries short of a happy meal or a real idiot.
2 chit box engines in 200K? So much for his brilliant ideas.

 

[ARB1977]

As long its holding compression, drive it till the wheels fall off.

 

[GenSan]

My barometer is a fella who has more than 650,000 original miles on his 3.4L V6 5VZ-FE. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/new-members/96662-1999-limited-4-runner.html

I'm halfway there.

 

[cashmoney]

Originally Posted By: expat
Once had 500k on an 81 Toyota 22R, later models would require timing chain replacement before that.

I'd say 200k-275K is typically a good estimate.

Funny in the UK back in the 70's the rule of thumb for the old British 4 bangers was 100K, the same as American V8's of the day.



Cars in the 60s and 70s seem to get worn out a lot faster. 100k miles on a car was viewed as huge miles and most were in bad shape by then (especially up in the rust belt US states). I had a 1975 VW Rabbit ($3495 brand new) that was totally worn out by 1979 with about 80k miles on it - the engine smoked like a mosquito truck despite regular oil changes. I had already replaced rack and pinion steering, distributor, alternator and other misc parts. That was my first and last VW and it kept me dirt poor in college.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
my 1962 peterbilt is still running its original unrebuilt cummins. im sure that its over a million miles,oil pressure is getting pretty low... but its still going.

glad i sold it before it got expensive lol


Those vehicles are designed to go 1,000,000 miles.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

While I don't have much experience with "newer" engines, the 3 we had/have keep going: '93 Towncar-179k, 89 Cougar-256k last seen, 87 Cougar- 224k driven to junkyard.
As far as the older engines go, the bigger block series usually outlast the small ones, except I6's. All my Ford 302's and 351 Windsors ('77-'83) puked between 80k and 120k. Yet I've had "M" engines (351-400) last 150k and more. My GM smallblocks except for Olds 307's, usually died around 90k-120k. My Chrysler engines seemed to hold up the best with over 120k to 200k on the big blocks (361,383,400), while the 318's would only run that long with oil pump replacements.